Editorial: The drive is alive

Friday

Aug 31, 2012 at 12:01 AM

At issue before the court were provisions of a 2011 state election law.

Florida is one step closer to keeping voter-registration drives alive.A federal judge signed an order Wednesday stating that he will issue a permanent injunction to prohibit state government from enforcing onerous time limits on third-party or independent efforts to register voters.It should be issued as soon as possible. Floridians who are not registered to vote but want to participate in the general election — in which the presidency, state and local offices will be at stake — must register by Oct. 9.At issue before the court, the U.S. Northern District of Florida, were provisions of a 2011 state election law. One part of the law sought to require individuals and third-party groups, such as the venerable League of Women Voters of Florida, to submit registration forms within 48 hours of being signed. Previously, the requirement was a reasonable 10 days.Fines and other punitive measures for violating the impractical two-day requirement led the League and other organizations, such as youth-oriented Rock the Vote, to suspend their efforts.Three organizations sued the state, alleging the law violated constitutional voting rights.In June, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle agreed and issued a temporary injunction blocking several of the law's restrictions, including the time restriction, from being enforced. Wednesday's order said the injunction will become permanent. "Florida's anti-voter law created impassable roadblocks for our volunteers, who have been bringing fellow Floridians into our democratic process for over 72 years," Deirdre Macnab, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, said on Wednesday. "Thanks to today's ruling, we can finally put these roadblocks behind us and concentrate on getting Floridians registered to vote."The drive is alive.